Tech

Porta-Pi Cabinet Lets You Take the Classic Arcade Anywhere

Arcade fans can attest that a game feels much more exciting when playing with a joystick and colorful buttons. But dragging a classic, standing arcade game system into your home is no easy feat considering the large size of most games — and it gets even harder if you want your beloved Street Fighter in the office.

Here to help with that gaming conundrum is Porta-Pi, a DIY arcade cabinet that lets users hook up their Raspberry Pi — a tiny computer that normally works with TVs or keyboards — and play classic games with a proper joystick and buttons. Ryan Bates built the cabinet by laser-cutting its pieces and manufacturing the parts to fit like a puzzle. The cabinet also includes a 7-inch LCD monitor and speakers.

Bates' Kickstarter campaign tells the story of how he began experimenting with this model for years, and wants to offer users a retro gaming experience. He recently presented this version of the product at the Pittsburgh Mini-Maker Faire.

In an email to Mashable, Bates explained the technology behind the object and how it works.

The Raspberry Pi works with the Porta-Pi to detect when a user moves the joystick or pushes a button by using its emulators, which "emulate game systems in software." As Bates explained, these emulators run ROMs (digital copies of video games), which users add. The Kickstarter video shows the Porta-Pi running games like Super Mario World and Doom.

"So these keyboard keys are mapped to specific games actions within the ROM and emulator, (say jump, fire, move right)," wrote Ryan Bates. "Pressing the Porta-Pi's arcade buttons is like pressing the corresponding button on a game controller or keyboard key. The [Raspberry Pi] takes care of the rest."

After users set up the cabinet, they should be able to play games freely and happily on surfaces like a work desk — no real maintenance required.

"Users could throw a nice coat of paint or two to keep up appearances," wrote Bates. "But, when you've had your fill of gaming for the day, turn off the Pi in software (soft-shutdown) — don't just kill the power. Treat it like your PC."

At the time of writing, Porta Pi had raised $5,413 out of a $36,000 goal with 28 days left in the campaign.

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